June 27, 2009

Change We Can Believe In: The Eighth Wonder of Space

For the past couple of years, the word "change" has been thrown around ad nauseum, but as many understand (or are just now beginning to understand), not all change is good. Nowhere has that principal been better understood than within the comic book superhero community, as shocking physical transformations have afflicted their ranks for decades.

A frequent target of these freakish mutations was none other than The Batman. Originally a dark and moody character, the science fiction craze of the late 1950's and early 60's pushed Batman to jaw-dropping levels of lighthearted sci-fi insanity....such as the bizarre transformation that occurred in Batman #140 (1961).

Mistakenly transported to the alien planet Xlur, Batman and Robin where transformed by its strange atmosphere into green, bug-like aliens with magnetic antennas!

When they returned to Earth, Batman and Robin's strange new appearance was feared and distrusted by their crime-fighting colleagues and the people of Gotham. After they apprehended The Yellow Sweater Gang (yes, you read that correctly), the alien-mutation wore off...allowing Batman and Robin to return to their (relatively) normal appearances.

One change I never will like is this: when Spider-man started out, Peter Parker was a skinny, kinda short, nerd. This was a significant aspect of the character and a major point of the stories. By the seventies, he was a tall handsome guy dating supermodels.

That's a double-Schiff story as it combines two of the essential Schiff elements: weird transformations and aliens. All it lacks is a monster with strange powers (although I guess you could say it's got that too).

Zubz, I'm sympathetic, but Parker's tranformation was mostly gradual and understandable. Having defeated these amazing villains, Peter began to develop more confidence in himself. Indeed, Betty Brant remarks on the change in him sometime around ASM #26. Indeed, this kind of change in confidence is quite normal for a young man.

I'm surprised Grant Morrison hasn't dug up this story recently. I mean, he dug up "That one time Batman got superpowers on Planet X and there was this alien Batman in a purple batsuit called Zur-en-Arrh," didn't he? And Silver Age Batwoman showed up in a flashback, too. Wasn't she exiled from continuity in the 80's?